Here are your science education resources and announcements for June, 2014 provided by the Michigan Science Matters Network. Please forward this eBlast on to other science educators in your school/district. If you have questions or comments, please forward them to:

If you have not joined the NSTA Learning Center yet, you can have an invitation to join sent directly to you, just send an email to: bydlowd@resa.net and an invitation will be sent directly to you.

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2b. Summer Schedule

My apologies for the delay in the Michigan Science Matters eBlast. Sadly, my mom passed away on May 13, 2014 and it has taken me awhile to kind of “catch up” on life. Plans are to have one eBlast in June, one in July, one in August, then back to our regular schedule in September. Thanks for your understanding.

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2c. What is Science Matters?

Science Matters is an initiative from the National Science Teachers Association that promotes quality science education, resources, and professional development opportunities. Each state has a Science Matters Coordinator whose primary role is to be the point of contact for distribution of science resources and opportunities to the state network. Your state coordinator is David Bydlowski. You can contact him at:

bydlowd@resa.net

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Next Generation Science Standards

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3a. STEM Teaching Tools Aligned with the NGSS

The STEM Teaching Tools web site is coming in July. It will include teaching resources for STEM education -- specifically focused on Next Generation Science Standards initially. Get ready to take a look at:

targeted to PD providers. Author Eric Brunsell discusses the professional development approach he and his colleagues use to help teachers understand the NGSS more deeply while simultaneously exploring curricular issues. In Introducing Teachers and Administrators to the NGSS: A Professional Development Facilitator's Guide, Brunsell and his co-authors offer practical ways to introduce the structure of the NGSS, model activities and protocols to deepen understanding of all three dimensions, processes for using "backwards design" principles for developing rich instructional units, and much more. The book is available at:

Schools are invited to register to participate in the Fall 2014 Interim Assessment Field Test. Districts may have several schools participate but each school must register with a separate application. Interim assessments will be field tested in the content areas of English language arts (ELA) and mathematics for grades K, 1, and 2, as well as high school science (Earth Science, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics) and social studies (US History & Geography, World History & Geography, Civics, and Economics). This field test is an important part of the test development process as we plan to provide interim assessments operationally in the 2015-16 school year.

Technology considerations: Schools may use Windows or Mac desktops and laptops to administer the field test assessments. Additionally, MDE is seeking schools to pilot the field tests on devices such as iPads, Chromebooks, and Windows 8 tablets (non-touch). Details regarding the minimum requirements for each device type is provided in the Michigan Testing Device Requirements document.

To participate in the Fall 2014 Interim Assessment Field Test, please complete the registration survey for each school at:

The 2014 Great American Backyard Campout will take place on Saturday, June 28! This year, we’ve set a goal of getting more than 200,000 people across the country to camp out. Don’t be left out – visit:

a competition for middle and high school students to design a method for combating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Give your students a chance to design and test a way to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Projects can relate to chemistry, environmental science, social science, behavior change. Interdisciplinary teams of students are welcome!

Students will be challenged and excited, and satisfied that they can make a difference in addressing climate change.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, the goal of the competition is to engage teams of students in project-based learning either in or outside the classroom as they design and test a prototype that reduces CO2, choosing any area of science or engineering, and demonstrate that it is effective. At the end, they will create a video and poster presentation for an online conference. Scientists will judge the presentations; $1,000 in prizes will be awarded.

The deadline for application is JULY 1st, but space is limited in this first pilot of the competition to 20 teams, so it will be first-come, first-served. The competition will close in December (2014).

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5c. Upcoming Deadlines

The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) offers a variety of fun and friendly competitions to engage your students in the pleasures of science beyond the curriculum. Please visit: http://www.nsta.org/about/competitions.aspx

Three on-line courses for teachers are currently available: one on meteorology, one on the Earth’s climate system, and a physical oceanography course. In each case the courses run about 13 weeks: once in fall (September – early December) and repeated in spring (end of January – April). Each week a different topic is addressed (through readings, on-line presentations, and activities). The amount of time varies from teacher to teacher due to different levels of prior knowledge. But participants say you should expect to put in 4 to 6 hours a week. Textbook, lab activities, extensive web site, some supplies, and three graduate credits are all FREE for teachers accepted into the class. There are a limited number of slots for teachers each semester. Interested teachers are encouraged to apply early.

Two things are required of teachers signing up for a course: (1) They are expected to participate fully, doing all they can to finish the course. [Teachers who start the course but drop out early have kept some other teacher from taking the class.] (2) Teachers are also asked to write a lesson plan to share some content of the course with students. They also hope you will share some of the course with other teachers.

Here are more details about the courses:

Climate Course (Climate in the Earth System): This course identifies the factors that determine and define climate. The connections are made between climate and solar input, temperature, humidity, precipitation, and severe storms. Methods of measurement and modeling of climate, both recent and ancient, are discussed. The question of global climate change is discussed in the context of science research. The course web site is: http://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/ECS/home.html

Weather Course (DataStreme Atmosphere): Basic concepts of meteorology are the focus of this course. They include separate chapters on weather measurements and tools, composition of the atmosphere, heat and temperature, air pressure, humidity, clouds and precipitation, wind, air circulation, air masses and fronts, hazardous storms, and weather forecasting. To find out more about his course, go to: http://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/DataStremeFrames.html

Ocean Course (DataStreme Ocean): This is primarily a physical oceanography course which includes, among other things, physical and chemical properties of water, ocean plate tectonics, currents, tides, ocean-atmosphere interactions, basic marine ecology, and the role of the ocean in climate. To find out more go to this web site: http://www.ametsoc.org/amsedu/DS-Ocean/index.html

Apply for a 2014 Michigan Green Chemistry Governor’s Award if you have designed or implemented an innovative project, for example by replacing or reducing a hazardous substance, reducing resource use, enhancing recyclability, or designing a safer chemical product or process.

* The Award Program is open to individuals, groups, and organizations in Michigan, both nonprofit and for profit, including industry, academia, education, and advocates.

* A green chemistry technology can be an entirely new chemical product or process or an improvement on an existing product or process.

* Green chemistry improves upon all types of chemical products and processes by reducing their impacts on human health and the environment relative to competing technologies. Benefits to human health and the environment may occur at any point in the technology’s lifecycle: feedstock, synthesis, use, and ultimate fate.

GetEdFunding is a free and fresh website sponsored by CDW•G to help educators and institutions find the funds they need in order to supplement their already stretched budgets. GetEdFunding hosts a collection of more than 2,400 (and growing) grants and other funding opportunities culled from federal, state, regional and community sources and available to public and private, preK–12 educators, schools and districts, higher education institutions and nonprofit organizations that work with them. GetEdFunding offers customized searches by six criteria, including 43 areas of focus, eight content areas and any of the 21st century themes and skills that support your curriculum. After registering on the site, you can save the grant opportunities of greatest interest and then return to them at any time. This rich resource of funding opportunities is expanded, updated and monitored daily. Please visit:

Would you like a complete list of grants that has been provided by the National Science Teachers Association? NSTA has put these grant and their deadlines in an easy to follow calendar. It includes: deadline date, description, category, and grade level. To view this list, please visit:

Every five years, NSTA examines its Strategic Goals to evaluate their progress and identify new directions for the organization. They reach out to members and other constituencies through focus groups and surveys. Please take a few moments to go through this survey and tell them what you think are the most important areas to focus NSTA’s collective energy. The survey can be found at:https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/3B6HBGW

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7b. Earth Day “Global Selfie” of Earth

On Earth Day this year, NASA asked people all around the world to answer the simple question "Where are you on Earth Right Now?" with a selfie. The Earth Day Global Selfie page received thousands of images from all over the world. Each picture was then used as a pixel in the creation of a "Global Selfie" - a mosaic image of Earth from Space.

On May 22, NASA released the finished product. The image was built using 36,422 individual photos:

You can zoom in to view the individual portraits that have formed this remarkable image.

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7c. Learn to Bird by Ear with “Bird Song Hero” FREE

Learning bird songs is a key birding skill. The all About Bird Biology team developed Bird Song Hero. This fun game puts the visual side of your brain to work, asking you to match the song you’re hearing to one of three visual representations of the sound. With more than 50 songs featured, you might just end up with a catchy song stuck in your head. Try out Bird Song Hero, by visiting:

New Summer Course Begins June 16th! "Using Technology in Environmental Education" is an 8-week (self-paced) online course designed to get you up and running with technologies you can use immediately in your organization and environmental programs. Choose the technologies you want to learn. You can focus on mobile and non-mobile tools to enhance your education programs, or focus on social media apps for marketing your programs. Or you can focus on both! The course is free, funded by EPA. For more information and registration:

Tinybop’s PLANTS app for the iPad and iPhone lets students unearth the secrets of the green kingdom and investigate an interactive diorama of the world’s biomes. Students begin in the forest and the desert, where they will burrow with badgers, spark a wildfire and spin through seasons and time. They will see how flora and fungi germinate, pollinate and decompose. They can easily switch between text labels in 50+ languages, including scientific names in Latin. A recording tool lets students leave questions and messages for one another, and a universal dashboard allows you to follow, save and share conversations with students. Cost: $1.99, but if you buy the app now, you’ll get the next two biomes—tundra and grasslands—for free when they’re released.

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7g. See a Different Side of NASA

Celebrated artists translate NASA’s mission “to reach for new heights and reveal the unknown” into stunning images. The NASA Art Program began in 1962 and enlisted some of the era’s greatest visual artists across various disciplines and backgrounds in conveying to the public the Space Agency’s cutting-edge research in ways more vibrant and less sterile than research reports. Among the images found in NASA’s Flickr Commons archive are artworks by such legends as Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell and Annie Leibovitz. The art was featured in a Smithsonian traveling exhibition celebrating NASA’s 50th anniversary in 2008 and was subsequently collected in NASA/ART – 50 Years of Exploration, featuring an afterword by Ray Bradbury, champion of space exploration. To make the collaborations as powerful and authentic as possible, NASA gave the participating artists unprecedented access to the agency’s facilities and, in some cases, even lent them prized equipment to ensure true-to-life portrayal.

7h. MIT+K13 Videos Presents Science Out Loud FREE Videos By Students For Students

The mission of MIT+K12 Videos is to use MIT's unique resources to inspire the inner scientist in all learners. MIT+K12 Videos are made for students by students. Current MIT students write and host webisodes about their favorite STEM topic that entertain, engage, and educate, and show a side of science different from what you might find in a textbook. Webisodes focus on everything from the physics of invisibility cloaks to motor control in humanoid robots, hosted by MIT students who showcase a diverse set of interests, personalities, and backgrounds and who are relatable and fun.

Episodes go up on YouTube and TechTV on Mondays, along with an accompanying episode page. Check out more at:

MAEOE is seeking presenters, field trip leaders, and Share-A-Thon participants for the 2014 conference. This year’s conference will be held from October 10-12, 2014. Their theme is “STREAMing through Environmental and Outdoor Education: Integrating Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art and Math.” The location this year is the fabulous Ralph A. MacMullan Conference Center in Roscommon, Michigan (on the north shore of Higgins Lake).

They are very excited about the opportunities this venue has to offer - plenty of room and a variety of settings for presentations and field trips - and we hope you can be a part of the conference!

You are invited to submit a presentation proposal today! (Don't let the June 30th deadline sneak up on you!) Simply visit:

This year will mark the sixth Michigan “GreenUp” Conference, designed to be a valuable experience for sharing information, networking, and learning. This year’s theme is Cultivating Next Generation Solutions. Green chemistry and engineering are about designing, innovating, and manufacturing what’s next and developing less hazardous, more effective materials, processes, and products. Green chemistry and engineering can help businesses create new markets, reduce costs, increase safety, and gain a competitive edge.

This coming September, Detroit and Michigan will host the Intelligent Transportation System World Congress, and annual event that brings nearly 15,000 of the world's technologists together to explore and grow the exciting world of connected and autonomous vehicles. The Square One Education Network is proud to offer free passes for interested high school and college students interested in learning about the potential career opportunities and technologies that are rapidly developing around the world. They are able to offer approximately 1000 passes to teachers and students! All you need to do is follow the registration guidelines and register early! Why? Because the event is happening this September 7-11...right at the start of school! (Sorry...they didn't pick the dates!) This will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as this conference will not be returning to Michigan, as it moves to a different continent each year! WOW! They are pleased to lead the charge in bringing youth and their teachers to this exciting technological world.

PASCO is excited to announce that their SPARKvue software is now FREE for iPads and Android tablets! They also have a Chrome book solution that’s unique to the market that offers software at no cost to schools.

AAAS Project 2061 is seeking input from science educators on their interest in a Green Schools Energy curriculum for the middle grades. The Project 2061 research team has developed an outline that describes what a Green Schools Energy course might look like and invites you to review it, provide your comments, and complete a brief online survey. As an incentive, reviewers will become eligible for a drawing to win one of five $50 Amazon gift cards.

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Mary Koppal at 202 326 6643 or mkoppal@aaas.org

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11b. FREE Multidisciplinary Program

BSCS Middle School Science provides a variety of ways to help your students meet the Next Generation Science Standards, including opportunities throughout each unit to engage in the practices of science. The program is a student-centered, multidisciplinary science program funded by the U.S. Department of Education, Institute for Education Sciences, and available from BSCS.

The program comprises the following four units:

* Earth/Space Science

* Life Science

* Physical Science

* Science and Society

They developed BSCS Middle School Science using the most recent research on teaching and learning. The curriculum is available online only and is FREE for classroom use to teachers who agree to provide usability data and complete student pretests and posttests.

Engaging science lessons brought to you by your local birds! Our friends at Pennington Wild Birds are working with schools to educate and engage children and families in citizen science and the pleasures of wild bird feeding and bird watching! A free download perfect for elementary educators is available: these easy-to-use activities will help you teach science content year-round through the birds that visit.

EAT THINK GROW provides short-term and long-term support for school garden education and farm-to-school programs. When the school garden is planted and growing, learning opportunities about life cycles and living and nonliving things abound. There are observations to be made about diversity in plants and animals and within the environment. There are data to collect, harvests to gather and cooking to do. Select a grade level and use the FREE seasonal activities to help students at K–5 eat, think and grow throughout the year. Please visit:

What did the tectonic plate say to the other tectonic plate when bumping into it?

“Sorry, my fault.”

Did you know you could freeze yourself to -273.15 degrees and still be 0K?

What’s an astronauts favorite key on the keyboard?

The space-bar!

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14. May Contest Winners

In March, we gave away two $10 Starbuck’s gift cards. Here is a list of the winners:

Julie Scott, Tri County Area Schools – Bailey, MI

Peter Youngblood, Trenton High School – Trenton, MI

Deb Emerlander, West Kelloggsville Elementary – Wyoming, MI

If you didn’t win, try again this month. Thanks to everyone for being part of the Michigan Science Matters Network.

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15. June Contest – Win a $10 Panera’s Gift Card

This month we have three great prizes to give away. The prizes are 3 - $10 Panera’s Gift Cards.

To win one of these prizes, send an email to:

David Bydlowski

bydlowd@resa.net

State Coordinator for the Michigan Science Matters Network

You MUST INCLUDE your name AND mailing address AND your school name/district. (If you want the card, sent to your home, please provide your home address.)

You may only enter once and only one entry per email address. Respondents 2, 12, and 22 will receive a prize. We will post all of the winners in our next E-Blast. Good luck to you and thank you for being part of the Michigan Science Matters Network.

If you don’t win, try again next month. Thanks to everyone for being part of the Michigan Science Matters Network.

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To subscribe to the Science Matters Network in Michigan e-blast, please visit: